Phyllis Bennis

Fellow Phyllis Bennis directs the New Internationalism Project at IPS, focusing on Middle East, U.S. wars and UN issues. She is also a fellow of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. In 2001 she helped found and remains active with the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. She works with many anti-war organizations, writing and speaking widely across the U.S. and around the world as part of the global peace movement. She has served as an informal adviser to several top UN officials on Middle East issues and was twice short-listed to become the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

In this edition of the New Internationalism Newsletter, Phyllis focuses on the threats of war with Iran, the sadly escalating conflict in Syria, the Arab Spring’s mixed bag of results in Egypt, and why the Presbyterian church is joining the movement to boycott, divest, and sanction Israel.

This panel examines the role of grassroots movements as a practical approach to fulfilling the shortcomings of political representation, with special attention to protests, hunger strikes, and other forms of resistance seen today.

Many of the secular activists and organizations who had played such a central role in the Arab Spring uprising came together with the Muslim Brotherhood in a unified front to challenge the military’s continuing seizure of power.

The Syrian National Council says its decision to form a military council and unify the opposition will help get weapons from outside sources. The U.S. says all options on the table in Syria, but has not commented on whether to arm the opposition.

Obama knew that many people who voted for him in 2008 did so based on his commitment to end the war in Iraq, so highlighting that made perfect sense. But he was way wrong in claiming that the war in Iraq has made the United States “more respected around the world.”